Triage nurses decide who can wait an hour or six and not go downhill but they’re not deciding to withhold treatment from 86 y.o. patients with memory impairment, shortness of breath and chest pain - they move to the front of the line in today’s non-disaster conditions. Which is not to say the nurse doesn’t make inquiries about DNRs - but DNR does not mean “do not treat.”
When 14 people are wheeled into the Emerg at the same time from a brutal traffic accident or mass shooting, and the triage nurse knows she has 5 OR’s to work with and all 14 need immediate surgery, the 14 year old is getting the OR before the 84 year old. When you dont even know who these people are, or their medical histories, the assumption is made that the 14 year old has the better shot at survival. The 84 year old gets shot up with palliatives and everyone hopes they hold on long enough to open up an OR for them.
Welcome to the real world, where children are prioritized over adults, and adults are prioritized over the elderly.
Under normal circumstances, yes, but in a disaster they have the training, the ability, and the legal authority to decide who will benefit from treatment, and will therefore survive with treatment, and who will not.
With scarce resources (there are only so many doctors, rooms, medicines and hours) not treating the walking dead is essential for the survival of the maximum number of people